To Save a Friend
by Lunar Berserker
Summary: Hope uses an ancient machine to travel to the future only to end up on Gran Pulse five hundred years in the past. There he meets and befriends Vanille, an old friend of his. Once back in his own time, he embarks on a mission with Serah and Snow to save Vanille, Fang, and Lightning. Pairings: Hope/Vanille, Serah/Snow. No yaoi.
1. Prologue

Authors Note: Hey there! I've wanted to write a Final Fantasy XIII story ever since I began playing the game, especially one revolving around Hope and Vanille, and I finally got an idea for one. Hooray! I hope you enjoy and please read and review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Final Fantasy related.

Prologue

The ground trembled as an enormous creature made it's way over a large plain, littered here and there with bushes or rocks ranging in size from large to small. The creature greatly resembled a large reptile from prehistoric times, with thick gray skin covering it's entire body and large teeth poking out of its mouth.

A scream split the air as a young girl with bright red pigtails ducked and ran to the side, dodging the creature as it tried to crush her under it's large feet. The girl thinking fast; tossed a ball of fire back over her shoulder as she ran. It threw the creature off long enough for her to get a few paces ahead of it. When she was far enough away from it to feel somewhat safe she slowed her pace and glanced around anxiously, her green eyes lit up upon seeing someone leap into the air and land on the creatures back, driving a sort of spear into it.

The creature let out a long moan and fell, lifeless, to the ground.

The redheaded girl jumped up and down and clapped her hands together happily. "Yay! We did it!"

The other person was a young woman with dark brown hair and green eyes somewhat similar to the redheaded girl. She jumped down off the creatures back and slowly made her way towards the other girl. As she drew nearer to her she twirled her weapon in her hand and smiled.

"Of course we did," she said smiling fondly at the redhead. "Now lets get out of here before we end up as Adamantoise stew. Because for some reason I don't think that's our focus."

The redheaded girl nodded. "Right!" she said as she got down from where she stood on a rock and followed her companion through the plains filled with monsters of every size and shape.

The two of them walked in somewhat peace for the next twenty minutes coming across several small monsters but nothing that was too hard for them to handle.

After pleasantly making their way through the plains for a while another creature, even larger then the one they had fought earlier, began making its way towards them.

The redheaded girl gasped, bringing her hands towards her mouth. "Fang! What do we do?" she asked her companion anxiously; as she pulled out a weapon titled 'Blinding Rod' and prepared to fight.

The young women called 'Fang' frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Retreat!"

Fang turned to run and the red head followed, matching her fast pace. As they headed for the cover of a forest, it became apparent that they couldn't outrun the large creature.

With a heavy sigh Fang turned and faced the creature, twirling her weapon in her hand.

"Come here beasty," she taunted, moving her hands back and forth over her head to get its attention.

The redheaded girl came to halt, turning back to look at her friend. "Fang! What are you doing? You can't fight it!"

"Don't worry, I'm just going to slow it down," Fang assured the girl. "Just head into those trees over there and I'll catch up to you."

The girl looked down sadly before nodding and giving her companion a wide smile. "Be careful!"

With that the redhead ran into the forest as fast as she could, worry clouding her thoughts. She forced herself to push away all thoughts of anything bad happening to her friend as she continued through the trees now at a much slower pace.

Finally she came to a halt, gazing at the ground sadly, reflecting on all of the things that 'could' happen even though she tried hard to push them all away.

She hadn't been standing there for very long however, when a creature nearly barreled into her. She gasped and pulled out her weapon once more, ready to fight it, but then frowned as it continued past her as though she didn't exist. The girl tilted her to the side and followed the creature deeper into the forest, curious as to why it hadn't attacked her.

Finally the creature came to a halt in a clearing and began circling a human lying on the ground. The human was a young man whom was most likely between the ages nineteen and twenty-three; he had silver hair, pale skin and wore clothes unlike any the girl had ever seen before.

After pacing back and forth around the boy for some time the creature snarled and sprang at him. The redheaded girl shot a large fireball at the creature just before it reached the boy and it fell on top of him, lifeless.

She quickly ran over to the boy and pushed the monster off of him. She then knelt down beside him and felt his pulse and after seeing that it was steady, she gingerly lifted his head into her lap.

"I wonder what he's doing here?" She wondered to herself, watching the boy curiously. He looked unlike any person around there that she'd ever seen, with his pale skin and odd clothes.

Finally the boy began to open his eyes, they widened upon seeing the girl looking down at him and he gasped.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," the girl told him, thinking that his shocked expression was one of fearfulness. She stood up and held out a hand to him, which he accepted still staring at her. The girl smiled at him. "My name's Oerba Dia Vanille. What's yours?"

The boy continued to stare at her, surprise and delight lighting up his eyes. "Vanille? It's me Hope... Hope Estheim."


	2. Amongst Friends

Authors Note: I hope you like this chapter. Please read and review. :)

Chapter One: Amongst Friends

Five hours earlier:

"I promise that it really does work," an elderly man with graying hair and glasses that were much too large for his face said. "I've already tested it on another person, and they reported that it had, in fact, taken them to another land in a different time period."

A much younger man with silver hair walked along behind the elderly one. He glanced to his right, at a young woman beside him, as though curious if she had something to say to this. She only smiled and continued to follow the elderly man in front of them.

"I don't know…" the young man muttered to himself. "I was never that interested in going to the future… Are you sure that it can't take someone to the past?"

The elderly man nodded, his glasses slipping partway down his nose. "Quite yes, from all of the research that I've done on this mysterious machine it looks like it can only take one forward in time."

The three of them walked in silence after that until they reached a set of double doors, which the elderly man walked up to and pulled wide open, beaming, as he gestured for the two younger people to enter.

The woman entered first and looked around, the young man following her cautiously. The young man, once inside, looked around as well, his eyes falling on a large machine smack in the middle of the room. His eyebrows furrowed together as he approached it cautiously.

"Lovely isn't it?" the elderly man said, still beaming as he began walking over to the machine as well. "Can you believe that it was actually made over a thousand years ago?"

"I know! It's so high tech," the young woman agreed. She glanced at the young man in front of her and tilted her head to the side. "Don't you agree Hope?"

The young man 'Hope' stood gazing at the machine, lost in thought. He really wanted to go back in time not forward, he wanted to fix things in the past not the future, and the idea of seeing what was to come sounded rather frightening to him.

The woman frowned and walked over to Hope. "Earth to Hope? What are you thinking about?"

Hope looked startled and glanced at her. "Huh? Oh, nothing." He turned to the elderly man and smiled politely. "This is really neat, and I thank you very much for finding it, but...I'm afraid that I'm not interested in traveling into the future."

Upon saying this Hope walked passed the girl and made his way to the door. The elderly man watched him, an anxious expression on his face.

"Hey, wait! Don't you want to see what the future may be like?" the elderly man said quickly. "I mean the future! Think of all the possibilities!"

Hope seemed to debate this for a moment, he then shook his head no. "Not that much, but thanks."

The young woman scowled and got in front of him. "You're seriously not going to go see what the future's like?" She put her hand on his shoulder. "Look, it probably wouldn't take very long, you could just go there and you know, see what it like! Come on Hope, this is quite the opportunity you know."

Hope let out a sigh and glanced back over his shoulder at the elderly man watching him.

"How is it that you get back?" he asked.

The man pulled a small device out of his pocket and handed it to Hope.

"When you want to come back all you have to do is press this little button here and it will take you back to your own time period again," the man informed him excitedly. "It's really quite safe."

Hope stared at it for a moment, his gaze still uncertain. He glanced at the girl beside him who nodded.

"Go on," she told him happily. "Just make sure you get back by Saturday!"

Hope smiled. "Right."

…

The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and playfully tossed about Vanille's bright red pigtails as she frowned confusedly.

"Have we met before?" she asked Hope, tilting her head to the side.

Hope frowned. "Of course we have! You—don't remember?"

Vanille looked down sadly, bringing her hands together. "I'm afraid not. It must have been a very long time ago." She looked up at him and smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Hope placed his hand inside his left pocket, his fingers slid against something metal; it was the small device that would return him to his own time when he was done in this one.

Hope frowned. He couldn't help but wonder if the old man had been wrong, it certainly wouldn't be the first time that that very same man had made a mistake.

Hope looked up to find Vanille watching him; she smiled again when he met her eye.

"So Hope, where are you from?" she asked.

"Well, I'm…" Hope hesitated; he knew that most people would probably think that he was crazy if he told them that he was from the future. "I'm from a long way away from here. You've um—probably never heard of it."

"Oh," Vanille said, before placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward slightly. "Do you have a place to stay?"

"What? No. I guess I don't," Hope replied. Well, technically, he could head back whenever he wanted to but he wasn't ready to just yet.

"Well then Hope," Vanille began, smiling up at him again, "I'll find you a place to stay!"

"You will? Thanks." Hope smiled at her.

Vanille ran a couple of paces away before turning back to face Hope.

"Follow me!" she told him as she set off skipping through the trees.

Hope quickly caught up with her and they both walked side by side through the forest. Every once in awhile Vanille would run a short way ahead to look at something or point something out to Hope but other than that she remained fairly silent.

"Vanille! There you are," Fang said coming out from behind some trees close to where Hope stood, causing him to nearly jump out of surprise. She cocked an eyebrow when she had spotted Hope, a surprised expression on her face. "Who're you?"

Vanille ran over to Fang and smiled fondly at the brunette. "Fang! You're okay."

"'Course I am," Fang said, returning her gaze to her friend. She gestured at Hope. "Who's he?"

Hope walked up to her and held out his hand for her to shake. "My names Hope Estheim."

Fang shook his hand, eyeing him suspiciously. "Oerba Yun Fang." She looked him up and down, taking in his foreign clothes and pale complexion. "I take it you're not from around here."

"No, I'm not," Hope replied, wondering just how much was safe to tell them.

"I see," Fang stated flatly.

"Fang? I said I'd find him a place to stay," Vanille said. "Can we bring him back with us to Oerba?"

Fang seemed to contemplate it a moment before nodding. "Sure, good idea."

"Great!" Vanille exclaimed happily. "Come-on Hope!" She gestured for him to follow her as she bounced off between the trees.

Hope made his way through the thick underbrush behind Vanille, very nearly tripping over vines and small bushes several times. It had been quite some time since he had had to walk through that dense of a forest, and he found it quite hard to keep up with Vanille and Fang's fast pace.

Fang hurried ahead when they could finally see the end of the forest and peered around the last row of trees into the vast plain beyond. Vanille came to a halt a few feet behind the brunette and stood perfectly still, the wind whipping her red pigtails to and fro. Hope decided to copy her, only he stayed a little further back.

Fang looked back at them and smiled. "Don't worry, the coasts clear."

Hope followed Vanille and Fang onto the plain and his eyes widened out of surprise once he saw it. Three four legged monsters raced passed right in front of him at almost the moment he stepped out from behind the trees, and only moments later several flying creatures that resembled very large birds flew by, one swooping low enough that if he had reached up he could have touched it. Only a short distance away an Adamantoise stood dozing.

Hope took a step backwards, his hand resting on a boomerang that was attached to his belt. "If this is clear," Hope thought to himself, "I'd hate to see it when it's not."

Fang glanced at Hope, her spear in one hand. Vanille also turned to look at him, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Perhaps you'd better stay back if we run across any monsters," Fang told Hope. "If you've never tried to fight monsters like these they'll knock you flat before you can say 'help'."

"Well, I actually _have_ fought monsters like them before," Hope told her. "But it's been awhile."

Vanille looked at him, tilting her head to the side. "Have you been to Oerba before?"

Hope nodded, his bangs falling into his face. "Yeah."

Fang turned back to face the vast plain and took a couple of steps forwards.

"Well then, feel free to do what you like," Fang said, hands on her hips. "But be careful."

Fang took the lead as they began walking across the seemingly endless plain, the midday sun pouring down upon them.

They did run across several monsters and as Fang had said they were definitely no picnic. However, Hope _did_ remember how to fight the monsters there. He only used his boomerang as a weapon though, because he was unsure if they were l'Cie yet and didn't want them to ask him a bunch of questions about how he could use magic.

…

Night had fallen by the time Fang decided to stop for the day. They had been traveling through a sort of cave for the past two hours.

Hope bent down, his hands on his knees, he looked up at Vanille as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry! We'll reach Oerba tomorrow!"

"Great," Hope said, returning her smile. "I can't wait to see it again."

Vanille yawned and stretched. "I'm going to get some sleep. Good-night Hope!" She then walked over by one of the walls in the cave and lay down.

Hope smiled to himself and sat down beside another wall. "Good-night…Vanille."

Fang, whom had been standing, walked over to Hope and squatted down so that they were now eye level with each other. "So, where'd you say you're from again?"

Hope chuckled lightly. "I didn't, I only said that I'm not from around here."

Fang cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, I coulda figured that out for myself. What's it called?"

"…Palumpolum," Hope muttered thinking fast. He figured there was no way for him to get around answering her question.

"Never heard of it," Fang replied simply.

"Well, that's not surprising…" Hope told her, "it's not anywhere near here."

…

Hope woke up to the sound of thunder echoing off of the walls in the cave. When he first opened his eyes he couldn't remember why he was there, but then it all came back; the time machine, traveling with Vanille and Fang to Oerba and finally ending up in the cave that he currently resided in.

He looked around the cave and saw Vanille sitting not more than two feet from him. She had her chin on her knees and was rocking back and forth staring at the ground.

"Good morning," Hope said brightly, bringing himself into a sitting position. He then glanced around and frowned. "Where's Fang?"

"She went to see how bad the storm looks," Vanille told him. "Did you sleep well, Hope?"

Hope nodded. They remained fairly silent after that until Vanille jumped up and ran over to a plate that was a few feet away. She grabbed it and walked back over to Hope.

"Here," she offered, holding out the plate. "Are you hungry?"

Hope took it and smiled at her. "Yeah, thanks Vanille."

Hope looked back down at the plate and frowned. He could tell it was some type of meat but apart from that he had absolutely no idea what kind it was. On the side was a slice of melon, cantaloupe from the looks of it, at least he recognized _that._

"Umm, Vanille?" Hope began, trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say without sounding rude. "I've uh, never had this kind of meat before…what is it?"

Vanille frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. "I'm not sure, Fang was the one that caught it. She never told me."

Hope took an experimental bite of it and turned back to Vanille. "You know, it tastes a bit like chicken."

Vanille giggled. "It does, doesn't it?"

Fang turned the corner and walked up just then, her hair soaking wet.

"Well, it actually doesn't look too bad out there. I say we head for Oerba," Fang said. "If we're lucky, we should get there by supper time."

Vanille hopped to her feet. "Let's go then!" She bent down and held out her hand to help Hope to his feet, a brilliant smile lighting up her face.

Hope got up, chuckling to himself. Vanille was much the same as when he'd last seen her; he really hadn't realized how much he'd missed her.

…

"Welcome back to Oerba, Hope!"

Vanille bounced ahead eagerly as Hope slowed to a walk and took in his surroundings.

Oerba looked nothing like it had when he'd seen it over five hundred years in the future. Everything was in near tip-top shape and quite new looking. Hope couldn't do anything but stare around in awe.

Vanille tilted her head to the side, trying to read Hope's expression.

"Do you like it?" Vanille asked.

Hope blinked and looked down at her. "Yeah…it's great."

Fang walked away from them, waving back over her head as she went.

"I'll see you two later," Fang said. "I've got some things to take care of. Try not too get into any trouble while I'm gone, 'kay?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep Hope out of trouble," Vanille said, waving at her friend. She turned her head to look at Hope. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying!"

…

Crickets chirped loudly outside in Oerba. Hope lay on his side staring out of a window from the top of a bunk, listening to the racket that they were making.

Hope sighed; he couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He was very near just giving up and leaving the house.

He glanced towards his left pocket that still held the small device that could take him back home. With all of the little knobs that he had seen on it he couldn't help but wonder if there _was_ a way to go to the future. Not that he really wanted to.

Hope opened his eyes and looked out the window once more. He couldn't help but feel somewhat happy here, almost like he would be content to live in the past for the rest of his life…even though he knew that he couldn't.

On Oerba everyone was family, he hadn't fully understood what that meant until he'd entered the village in this past time era. Hope had been embraced by more then five people upon entering the village… Not to mention when he got to the home that Vanille and Fang lived in. Quite a few other people lived there as well and they all were eager to share their home with Hope for as long as he was going to stay.

While he was caught up in his thoughts he heard a faint rustling coming from a different bunk across the way. He glanced over wondering who it was. It was Vanille, she was still in her day clothes; she slowly made her way over to him. Upon noticing that Hope was awake her face broke into a grin.

"I'm glad you're still awake," Vanille said, which baffled Hope since it was past midnight. "Come on, I want to show you something."

She walked over to the front door of the house and gestured for Hope to follow her as she swung the door open.

Hope frowned but got up and followed her outside. He glanced sideways at Vanille.

"So what is it you want to show me?" Hope asked, curiosity filling his tone.

"You'll see," Vanille told him, setting off away from the house. "But don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it!"

Vanille led Hope outside of Oerba and to a small tunnel that Hope wouldn't have noticed if Vanille hadn't pointed it out. They stepped out of the tunnel and into some woods. Vanille continued to lead the way as she stepped lightly around trees and deeper into the woods.

After about ten minutes Vanille came to an abrupt halt, causing Hope to nearly ram into her.

"Are we there?" Hope asked.

Vanille nodded. "Yep."

Hope looked beyond her and stared wide eyed at the area that lay before them.

It was beyond beautiful. Everywhere Hope looked the woods were glowing. Flowers were everywhere, glowing in almost every color. And the trees were lit up as well, in deep shades of green, blue and purple. Hope stared, taking a couple of steps forward. He looked down startled; the grass right by his feet was glowing brighter then the rest. Hope was entirely lost for words. Finally he tore his gaze away from the forest to look at Vanille. She was sitting on a log watching Hope, a smile on her face.

"See? I told you that you'd like it," Vanille told him. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Hope nodded, slowly making his way over to sit beside her. "Sure is. I've never seen anything like it."

They sat in silence listening to the sounds one would normally here in the woods, such as owls hooting, crickets chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. Vanille got to her feet and walked over to a patch of glowing flowers that seemed to be blooming even though it was late at night.

"I used to come here all the time when I was younger," Vanille told Hope, she bent her head down and sniffed one of the flowers. "I haven't been here in over a year."

Hope leaned back against a tree and watched Vanille, a faint smile playing across his lips.

"You know, you're the first person I've ever shown this place to," Vanille said.

"Really?" Hope asked, surprised. "Then why are you showing it to me?"

"I don't know," Vanille said, putting her hand to her chin. She grinned at Hope. "I guess I feel like I can trust you."

Vanille go to her feet and held out her hand to help Hope up. He grabbed her hand and hopped to his feet.

"We'd better be getting back," Vanille told him. "It's really late."

"Yeah, it was past midnight when we left," Hope agreed, stretching.

By the time they got home it was nearly two in the morning. Vanille chatted happily at Hope as they began walking back to the large house they were staying in.

Absentmindedly, Hope reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small device. His eyes widened and he came to an abrupt halt.

The device was nearly split entirely in half. The knobs were smashed and broken, it looked broken beyond repair.

"No," Hope muttered under his breath. It must have broken when he landed in this time period. Now…there was no way back.

"Hope? What's wrong?" Vanille asked, she tilted her head and looked up at him concernedly.

Hope tore his gaze away from the device and looked at her. He forced himself to calm down.

He hesitated, debating whether or not she would believe him, or if it was really wise to tell her. He was pretty sure that she wouldn't believe him, who would?

Hope quickly tucked the broken device into his pocket again. "…Nothing."


	3. Berry Picking

Chapter Two: Berry Picking

"Fang! Wait for me!" Vanille yelled, running after her friend.

Fang slowed down, allowing Vanille to catch up to her. Once Vanille had, she sped up to her previous pace.

Vanille looked up at the sky. The sun was shining; it felt like a nice spring day even though it was currently autumn on Gran Pulse. Vanille drew in a breath and smiled happily. She loved it when it was nice out, when the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming. She couldn't understand why some people didn't like nature. She would be relatively content to spend her entire day outside amongst the flowers and trees.

Vanille still wasn't quite sure on why she had shown Hope the wonderful area in the woods that she had found long ago, for some reason she had just felt as though he would appreciate it.

They were on their way to the Elders house; nearly everyone in the village of Oerba went to him for advice. He was very intelligent, and quite old. Whenever anyone had a problem he could almost always be counted upon to come up with the perfect solution. Fang had thought that they should ask him about their focus.

"Fang," Vanille began. "What do you think of Hope?"

Even though Vanille rather liked Hope, she wasn't sure what to make of him. He was so different from everyone else she knew. He even spoke with a different accent. It almost seemed like he was from another world or something.

Fang's eyebrows furrowed together, and she slowed so that they were now walking slowly through Oerba's crowded streets, people waved at them as they passed. Everyone in the village knew each other.

"Hmm," Fang muttered. "Honestly, I think he's trouble. I'm gonna ask the Elder what he thinks of him."

Vanille tilted her head to the side, a slight frown upon her face.

"Trouble? He seems pretty nice to me," Vanille said brightly. "What sort of trouble do you think he is?"

Fang sped up again. She had been worried that Vanille was already fond of Hope; Fang kept seeing them speaking, they acted like old friends. Fang sighed; Vanille was always too trusting of people. Personally, Fang thought Hope anything but trustworthy.

"He's not from around here Vanille," Fang began. "I'd wondered if he might be from Cocoon."

Vanille looked rather taken aback. "Cocoon? But then why would he be here?"

Fang sighed. "I don't know, perhaps as a spy."

Vanille laughed. "Oh Fang, you're so silly." She then turned and began skipping away, back towards their house.

"Where're you going?" Fang asked her friend.

"I think I might bake a pie," Vanille said, waving. "Tell the Elder I said hello!"

Vanille made her way back to the house that she and Fang shared with quite a few other people in Oerba. Vanille rather liked the house; it was large enough that they all could live comfortably within it. Not to mention that she got along great with everyone else that lived there. She considered them all her family.

She got back to the house and opened the door. It was entirely vacant. She frowned, wondering where Hope had gone.

Vanille went over to a cabinet by the sink and pulled out two baskets the perfect size for picking berries. She then walked back out the door and looked around, trying to figure out where would be the most likely place to find Hope. She saw an elderly man walking across the street and ran over to him.

"Hiya pops!" Vanille greeted. "Have you seen a young man with silver hair? He's pale, and wears funny clothes. He has funny accent."

The man smiled fondly at Vanille and nodded.

"Yes, he's by the entrance of the village," he informed her. "He's the stranger, right?"

Vanille nodded. "Yep he is. Thanks!"

The man nodded. "Anytime Vanille."

Vanille hurried towards the entrance to the village. As the man had said Hope was indeed by it. He was sitting on a large wooden box looking at a strange and obviously broken device. Vanille slowed and began making her way towards him; he didn't appear to notice her until she was looking over his shoulder.

Hope jumped, quickly stuffing the device back into his pocket. He smiled at her uneasily.

"Oh uh, hi Vanille," Hope greeted. "I didn't see you there."

Vanille grinned. "Hi Hope! What was that you were holding?"

"Huh? Oh that." Hope looked down at his pocket, trying to think fast. "It's a—well, I don't know what it is exactly. And it's definitely broken whatever it may be."

"Hmm," Vanille said, putting her hand under her chin. "Could I see it?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, it could be dangerous," Hope told her quickly. He noticed the two baskets at her feet and smiled. "So, what are those for?"

"I was going to go pick blackberries," Vanille informed him. "Would you like to come?"

"Sure," Hope agreed, getting up from his perch on the box.

"Alright then follow me!" Vanille said, walking out of the village entirely.

Hope frowned as he followed her, he couldn't help but wonder why they were leaving the village, he had passed by many orchards and gardens on his way to the entrance. So he really didn't see the point in leaving it. However, he remained silent and followed her as she continued walking away from the village.

Vanille swung the baskets back and forth as she walked, looking up at the sun. Hope quickly caught up with her and walked along at her side.

"So, where exactly are we heading?" Hope asked.

"I found a place that has quite a few blackberry bushes that are very sweet, it's not far," Vanille told him. "The wild ones are much better."

Hope nodded thoughtfully, as Vanille turned to the side and began walking off in a different direction. She glanced sideways at Hope, and for a brief moment wondered if what Fang had said was true; if he _could_ be from Cocoon, perhaps came to Pulse as a spy. With the way he looked and his accent it would almost fit. He seemed different enough to be from an entirely different world. Vanille frowned; no, she still thought that Fang was mistaken, that didn't _really_ make any sense.

The two of them walked in silence until Vanille halted in the middle of a field; it was relatively open apart from five or six bushes and a couple of trees. Vanille turned back to face Hope and grinned.

"Here it is," she told him. "Want to help me pick them?"

Hope walked up to her and took a basket. He smiled. "Sure, lets get picking."

Hope bent down next to one of the bushes and got busy picking the tiny black berries that grew amongst the leaves. Vanille watched him a moment before bending down at the bush beside the one he was at.

"Hope?" Vanille began, pausing with a hand lifted up to the bush. "What is your village like?"

Hope froze, unsure on how to answer. Finally he looked over at Vanille.

"Well, it's a—bit different from here." Hope frowned and looked up at the sky. "But actually pretty similar in some ways."

Vanille rocked back on her heals and watched him; intrigued to hear about the place he lived at. She got the impression that it was indeed quite different, but from the way Hope was and looked she was guessing that it was an interesting place.

Suddenly a monster snarled behind them and lunged at Vanille, its teeth bared aggressively, causing Vanille to squeal and drop her basket, berries falling everywhere. The monster reached her before either she or Hope had time to react, and clamped its teeth down on her arm, a growl low in its throat.

Hope jumped up and threw a gust of wind at the creature, without thinking about not wanting to show Vanille that he could use magic. It tossed the creature up into the air and it landed a few feet away. Vanille gasped and got to her feet, clutching her arm, she quickly ran over to Hope. He had his boomerang out now was glaring at the creature.

As the monster got up Hope threw some fire its way, hitting its side. It let out a low moan and retreated a few steps before rounding on Hope and lunging at him. Hope ducked to the side, bringing Vanille with him and this time, threw his boomerang at the creature. Then before it had time to regain itself after being hit with the weapon Hope shot a large gust of flame at it, and it faded away into nothingness.

Vanille stared at Hope wide-eyed, still clutching her arm.

"You can use magic?" she asked, surprised. "How?"

Hope turned her way, and his gaze softened as he held out a hand to her. "Are you okay?"

Vanille looked down at her arm, and nodded. "Umm-hmm, I'm alright."

Hope gently grabbed her arm and looked at it, concern clouding his gaze. He raised one of his gloved hands and slowly moved it across her arm, a sort of green light coming out of his hand.

Vanille gasped, surprised as the pain in her arm vanished and the wound disappeared. She looked up at Hope, a little afraid. "What'd you do?"

Hope looked at her, his blue eyes meeting her green ones and sighed. He sat back down on the grass, tucking his boomerang back into his belt.

"It's sort of a long story," Hope told her, tearing a piece of grass out of the ground and tearing it to shreds.

Vanille walked over and sat down beside him, she crossed her legs and smiled at him. "I'm a good listener."

Hope frowned at the ground. "…It's because I was a l'Cie."

Vanille's eyes widened. "Really? Me too!" Vanille's face fell. "Except…I still am."

"Really?" Hope asked. He hadn't been sure on if she was one yet or not. "Do you know what your focus is?"

Vanille's face darkened and she shook her head. "Nope. Not yet."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out," Hope told her, smiling reassuringly.

"What was your focus Hope?" Vanille asked, tilting her head to the side. "Was it very hard to figure out?"

Hope turned back to the berry bushes and resumed picking the berries off of them. He hesitated before answering.

"Not really. I mean it seemed like it at first but then a fal'Cie gave it to us on a silver platter." Hope chuckled to himself, remembering when his friend Sazh had said just that on their journey.

Vanille frowned. "They told you your focus just like that?"

Hope nodded, still picking berries. "Yeah, it was a little strange."

"But you can use magic because you're a l'Cie?" Vanille asked, still watching Hope.

"Yeah," Hope said. "You can too."

Vanille put her hand under her chin and frowned. "I didn't know that."

Vanille stood and walked the few steps over to her basket; she lifted it and brought it over to another blackberry bush.

…

Hope leaned back from picking berries and looked at Vanille. His basket was very nearly overflowing with the sweet berries.

"Hey Vanille? What are you planning to do with the berries?" Hope asked curiously.

Vanille grinned. "I'm going to bake a pie!"

"Sounds good," Hope said, returning her grin. "But I've actually never had a blackberry pie before."

"Really? They're the best kind!" Vanille exclaimed, surprised. Everyone loved blackberry pies in Oerba. She was sort of surprised that Hope had never had one before. Vanille sat down on the grass. "You know you never did tell me what your village is like."

Hope's smiled faltered and he looked down.

"Well it's…" Hope paused, glancing at his heaping basket of berries. "I'm done picking berries what about you?"

Vanille looked down at her basket. "Yes, pretty much. We should have enough berries now."

Hope got to his feet, lifting his basket. He held out his free hand to Vanille, which she grabbed and hopped to her feet. She stretched, looking up at the sun. It would be getting dark soon. She bent down and picked up her basket.

Hope began walking back to the village and Vanille followed. She frowned, she could tell that Hope was avoiding telling her about his village but she had no idea why. Oh well, she thought, it didn't really matter. She didn't want to pressure him into telling her something that he didn't want to.

They made it back to the village relatively fast, with Vanille chatting to Hope about random things. He listened, commenting here and there. They reached the house they were staying at and went inside.

Unlike earlier, several people were now home. A young boy of about seven ran up to them when they came in, a wide grin on his face. He had wavy red hair and slightly tanned skin, like everyone else did on Gran Pulse. However, unlike Vanille and Fang his eyes were a deep indigo blue.

"Hi Vanille!" he greeted happily, giving Vanille a hug.

Vanille grinned. "Hey there Alexei! How did you and your fathers trip go?"

The young boy stepped back, still grinning. "Great! We had _so_ much fun!"

Hope stood to the side, feeling sort of out of place. Everyone in the town knew each other so well, he felt like an intruder. But he could see why Vanille and Fang had missed it so much. They were all like family.

"Oh!" Vanille said suddenly, braking off from speaking with Alexei. She stepped back so that the boy was now facing Hope. "You haven't met Hope yet have you? He's going to be staying here for a while. Hope this is Alexei. Alexei this is Hope."

The boy looked Hope up and down. Finally he smiled. "Hiya Hope!"

"Hey Alexei," Hope responded, smiling as well. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Alexei peered into the basket that Hope was holding. His eyes lit up. "Are you guys gonna make a pie?"

Hope looked at Vanille. "Yeah, I think so."

Vanille reached out for Hope's basket and he willingly handed it over.

"No, _I'm _going to make the pie and you two are going to watch," Vanille told them, grinning. "You can test-taste things for me."

Hope looked slightly surprised for a moment, then he laughed. "Okay. Let me know if you need any help."

…

Vanille watch as Hope took his first bite of the pie. They had eaten dinner while it cooked. Alexei had gotten himself a piece of pie and then left the house saying he was going to go and find his father. So it was just Vanille and Hope at the table for the moment. Four other people were now home but they were all busy doing something else.

At first Hope looked thoughtful then he smiled at Vanille. "You're right, this _is _good."

Vanille grinned. "I thought you'd like it!"

They both looked over as the front door very nearly slammed shut. Vanille waved as Fang walked over to them, a faint frown lining her forehead. She came over to the table and sat down next to Vanille.

"Yum, pie," Fang said eyeing Hope's plate. "Looks good. Can I have a piece?"

"Yep, of course!" Vanille said cutting Fang a piece and handing it to her on a plate.

Fang took it and ate a bite; she glanced over at Hope who shot her a weary smile before resuming eating his own piece. There was definitely something strange about him, though he acted nice enough.

"So Fang," Vanille began, turning to look at her friend. "How's the Elder doing?"

Fang swallowed her bite of pie. "Oh, he's doing good. He…had a few ideas." She looked over at Hope, not wanting to say too much.

"It's okay, Hope knows that we're l'Cie," Vanille told Fang. "He was one too!"

Fang cocked an eyebrow and looked at Hope. "You're a l'Cie?"

Hope poked his pie with his fork, uneasiness apparent on his face. "Yeah, I 'was' a l'Cie. I completed my focus."

"Did you now?" Fang said. "They're right easy to figure out aren't they?"

Hope chuckled. "Yeah, fal'Cie never like making things clear."

"So I take it you were turned to crystal?" Fang asked, lifting her fork to take another bite of the pie.

Hope nodded. "Yeah."

Fang watched him curiously, once again taking in his strange clothes. "So you're from a different time era?"

"Yeah—you could say that," Hope said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

They all ate the rest of their slices of pie in silence. When they all were done Fang looked at Hope again.

"Hey could you excuse us for a moment?" Fang asked him.

"Huh? Oh, okay," Hope agreed, looking slightly confused. He got up from the table and stepped outside.

Once Hope was gone Fang turned to Vanille, her eyebrows furrowing into a frown.

"I thought I'd told you to stay away from him," Fang muttered.

Vanille began gathering up their plates; she smiled at her friend. "He's not from Cocoon Fang."

"Oh he's not is he?" Fang asked. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

Vanille frowned, thinking. "I don't know. I just don't think he is."

"Just do me a favor alright? And don't get too close to him," Fang said, watching Vanille, concern showing in her green eyes.

Vanille returned from putting the plates in the sink and stuck her hands on her hips. Regardless of what Fang said she thought Hope was a good person, even though she wasn't sure herself on why.

"You're too suspicious of people Fang," Vanille told her friend, she then skipped to the front door and left.

Hope was outside, staring up at the sky. It was sunset now, and the beams of light made Hope's hair appear golden. Vanille halted a few feet behind him. _Could_ he be from Cocoon? She really hoped not. But looking at him standing there she couldn't help but think how he looked nothing like anyone else did on Gran Pulse.


	4. Saturday

Authors Note: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The story will be picking up in the next few chapters, I promise. Anyway, please read and review, thanks. :)

Chapter Three: Saturday

Hope leaned back against the wall of the large house, his blue eyes roving over the square in front on him. As usual, Oerba's streets were filled with the busy goings on of the people that lived there. He was honestly surprised at how many people he knew by name already. Everyone there was extremely friendly, welcoming him easily into their midst. The only person that was rude to him at all was Fang; he could tell that she didn't trust him at all. Not that he had given her any reason to. Now Vanille was a different story entirely, she and Hope were already good friends. Not that she ever wasn't Hope's friend.

This was the fourth day that Hope had been on Gran Pulse, and though it surprised him, he was already quite used to living there. Besides Vanille he had already made several other friends. He still couldn't get over how nice everyone had been to him so far.

Hope looked to his right when he heard the sound of shoes hitting gravel. Vanille and Fang were making their way towards him. Vanille grinned as they approached him. As per usual, she was skipping. She was always full of energy.

"There you are," Fang said, irritably. "The Elder wants to see you."

"Hey guys," Hope greeted, offering the two of them a slight smile. "Who's the Elder?"

"He's sort of like our leader. Maybe he can help you get home!" Vanille said enthusiastically.

Hope hadn't told Vanille that he was from the future, instead he had settled with telling her that there was simply no way that he could get home. She had still offered to help him find a way anyway, saying that there was always a way. However, he simply didn't see how. Not without the device that had been given to him by the scientist from his own time period. Hope smiled at Vanille.

"I don't think he can, but thanks Vanille," Hope said, looking down at his feet.

Fang scowled, placing her hands on her hips. "Why's that?"

Hope hesitated. "It's just…not possible. I don't think anyone can." He looked down at the ground. "It's too far away."

"You shouldn't be so pessimistic Hope! The elder's really smart," Vanille told him. "He really might be able to help you!"

Hope just smiled and looked back over at Fang. "So, uh, which house is his?"

Vanille giggled. "They all are silly!"

"Right. But which house is he living in?" Hope chuckled. He remembered when Vanille and Fang had first told him that all of the houses in Oerba were theirs. He hadn't been able to fathom that at the time, however, after living in Oerba for the past few days he had begun to see how. They all shared, nobody owned any one house.

"I'll take you there!" Vanille said, as she grabbed Hope's hand and towed him away down the street.

Hope grinned, as she led him through the wide streets of Oerba. It was nice being back around his friends. He really never saw any of the people he had become friends with after becoming a l'Cie. Well, he had seen Snow about three times, but that was it. Only three times in the past five years. Sure he had friends where he lived, but he had never gotten as close to any of them as he had with Snow, Vanille, Lightning, Sazh and Fang. Before he had gone to the past, he had been trying to find a way to save Vanille, Fang and Lightning. He had several theories that he thought might work… Not that it mattered anymore if he wasn't going to go back. For some reason, he realized that he wasn't panicked about trying to get to his own time. He knew he should be, but he wasn't. Not to mention there were things he was in no hurry to go back to.

Vanille came to a halt outside of a tall house; she let go of Hope's hand and grinned at him.

"He lives right in there," Vanille said cheerily. "I'd come, but he said wanted to speak with you alone." She took a couple of steps back and waved. "See you later Hope!"

Hope waved before walking up a short flight of stairs to get to the house. Hope paused before knocking lightly on the door. He fiddled with his glove awaiting an answer. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened and an elderly man peaked out. His face crinkled into a grin when he spotted Hope.

"Ah, you must be Hope Estheim," the elderly man said. "Come in, come in. I've been waiting for you."

"Hello," Hope greeted, stepping past the man into the house. He looked around. He had been expecting something fancy, but the elder's house was quite the same as all of the others in Oerba. There were fewer beds in it then in some of the other houses, which was likely the only difference. Hope guessed that only a couple of other people lived there, so that the elder had some space. It made sense to him, since the man was like their leader.

"So Hope, how are you fairing here in Oerba?" the elderly man asked.

Hope turned to face him, and smiled. "I love it here. Everyone has been very nice to me."

The man paced forward until he was right in front of Hope. He held out his hand. "I'm sorry, I realize I haven't introduced myself yet. My name's Oerba Vail Roren. However most people simply refer to me as 'Elder'."

"It's nice to meet you. Can I call you Elder as well?" Hope asked, a slight smile on is pale face.

"But of course!" Roren said, smiling brightly. He gestured to a table and chairs towards the far side of the room. "Feel free to take a seat."

Hope crossed the room and sat down at the table. Roren sat down across from him. He watched Hope silently for a moment, drumming his fingers on the flowery tablecloth, his gray eyes thoughtful.

"So, I was told you are from a town called Palumpolum, is that correct?" Roren asked, folding his hands on the table.

Hope swallowed hard, then nodded. "Yes, I was born there at least. I uh—moved to somewhere else five years ago."

"I assume that this Palumpolum is not on Gran Pulse?" the man further asked.

Hope was quiet, unsure of what to say. Finally he decided on the truth. He nervously met the man's eye.

"No it's not on Gran Pulse. But I've been living on Gran Pulse for the past five years," Hope informed him.

"So you are in fact from Cocoon," Roren guessed, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Have you come here to spy on us?"

Hope frowned, surprised. "No of course not. Why would I?"

Roren looked at him for a long time, taking in his expression. He had been so sure that Hope had come there to spy on them, but the boy appeared to be telling the truth. Perhaps he was just a very good actor. Because why else would he have come there?

"So if you are not here to spy on us, then can I ask why exactly you are here?" Roren asked.

Hope pulled the broken device from his pocket. He'd considered throwing it out, but then decided against it. Perhaps he could find a way to fix it, or like now, if he ever needed something for evidence. Even if it wasn't very good. He placed the device on the table and looked back at the Elder. Roren very slowly reached out and picked it up, his gray eyes lingering on it for a moment.

"What is this?" Roren asked.

"You're probably going to think I'm crazy but I'm actually from the future. With a machine and that little device a scientist was able to send me back five hundred years, to here," Hope paused, watching the older man's expression. "I had thought that it was going to take me into the future. But I ended up here, in this time period. I promise I'm not here to spy."

The elder drew in a breath, looking at Hope. He turned the device over in his hands before further addressing the young silver-haired man.

"The future you say? Is that even possible?" Roren looked Hope up and down. Then he smiled. "Why do I actually find myself believing you? " The man chuckled softly. "Perhaps it's because I've heard of old legends that speak of such things. So tell me Hope, what's the future like?"

Hope grinned, relieved that this man was actually giving him a chance. He thought a moment, how best to describe the future?

"Well, I guess it's not that different from here. I mean, we have a bit more technology, but other then that," Hope said, trailing off. He looked down at the table. "…Vanille's even in the future."

Roren's eyes twinkled as he watched Hope. "Ah, I see. You have a little crush on Miss Vanille don't you?"

Hope looked up quickly, taken aback. Sure when he had last seen Vanille when he was fourteen he had, but over five years had passed since then. But come to think of it, out of the three people he wanted to rescue he was most anxious to rescue Vanille. So maybe he still did? Hope shook his head, trying to clear it, and felt his cheeks grow hot. The man was still watching him, amusement glittering in his pale eyes.

"I—no it's not like that. We're friends, just friends," Hope muttered looking down at the tablecloth. He wasn't sure why he was that bothered by it.

Roren chuckled. "Never mind that, I was only teasing. But I am curious now, you said that you knew Vanille and Fang from the future?"

"Yeah, they were in Crystal Stasis for five hundred years. So yeah, I know her," Hope said quietly. _Knew_ her was more like it, but Hope didn't say that out loud. "I was a l'Cie as well."

The two of them spoke about the future for quite sometime before Roren stood and told Hope that he could leave if he wanted to.

"I do believe you Hope, but that doesn't mean that I won't be keeping an eye on you," Roren told him, his expression was stern though he had a smile on his face. "It's not every day we get a guest that claims to be from the future."

"That sounds fair to me," Hope said, a smile on his face as well. "Thanks for listening to me sir."

The elder nodded, patting Hope on the arm. "Anytime. I'm sorry about your predicament."

…

A petite young woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes hurried down an alleyway. The sun was going down, casting deep shadows along the cobbled street, making her rather nervous. The woman was dressed her best in a short yellow dress made for a special occasion with matching high-heeled shoes and hairclip. To accent it she had on a pair of short white gloves.

The woman came to a halt outside of a large building and stared at it for a moment before tapping sharply on the door. She crossed her arms and waited for it to be opened, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.

She didn't have to wait for very long before the door was pulled open and an old man stood there, with glasses that were much to large for his face. He looked over the rim of his glasses at the young woman, and smiled nervously when he saw whom it was.

"Why hello again Alyssa! What might I do for you?" he asked.

Alyssa scowled. "Hope's not back yet. Have you heard anything from him?"

The man shook his head, taking his glasses off and wiping them on a cloth. "I'm afraid not. But don't worry, I'm sure he's fine."

"He promised he'd make it back by today!" Alyssa wailed. Hope never went back on his word, so she was sure that something had happened to him. Even though he wasn't excited about that day she didn't think he would go back on his word. "I want to go in after him. Can I? Please?"

Reluctantly the man stepped back, allowing Alyssa entry into his home. He had been worried that she was going to tell him that, and he still hadn't made up his mind on what he wanted to say to her. He supposed the truth, but for some reason he didn't think she was going to like it. True he liked the young woman very much and thought her rather sweet; but he got the impression that his answer would make her very angry.

Alyssa stepped into his house; it was a nice house with elaborate paintings aligning the walls. The scientist was rather rich and spent much of his time ad money decorating his rather large house. The scientist led Alyssa into his living room. Heavy draperies hung over a row of three windows, the color of mahogany. To go with it he had antique furniture that matched the draperies with just a touch of gold to accent it. When the man invited Alyssa to sit she hesitated before obeying. Everything in the room was utterly perfect, and she was partly afraid of touching anything.

The scientist sat down opposite her, twisting his glasses around in his hands. Finally he looked up and met Alyssa's eyes. She was watching him, clearly waiting for him to answer her question.

"Well, it's not quite that simple," the man began. "Personally, I think we should give him a bit more time. I'm sure he'll come once he's through there. Perhaps he's just exploring the wonders of the future?"

Alyssa shook her head. "No, Hope didn't even want to _go _to the future. I think he would try to come back as soon as he could."

Alyssa watched as the scientist stood and walked over to one of the heavy draperies. He pulled it aside and looked up at the moon, his gaze strictly unreadable. There was something going on that he didn't want to tell her about, she was sure of it. Only, she had no clue on what.

"Professor—" Alyssa began. "What exactly is going on?"

The scientist sighed. He couldn't think of anyway to get out of answering. He was just going to have to tell her. He was also worried that something might've happened to Hope, he was rather fond of him so he thought he owed Alyssa an explanation. He remained standing but walked over to stand in front of the young blonde.

"You can't join him Alyssa, because I do not have another one of the devices that Hope used to go to the future," the man told her.

Alyssa frowned. "But you don't need another one of the devices to go there, right?"

"No, you don't," the man agreed. "But it is the only way to come back. So say something happened to your friend—" Alyssa opened her mouth to cut him off but he held up his hand to halt her. "Just say for a moment that something did, and his device is gone then you would be trapped there. Besides, I'm not even sure if it is possible for the device to transport more then one person through time, because it transports _with _the person holding it."

It was Alyssa's turn to stand and head over to the window, however she didn't pull the draperies aside, she just stood with her back to him. So she had no way of going in after Hope, he could technically never come back and she wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. She scowled at the ground; she shouldn't have encouraged Hope to go through time to begin with. But she'd figured that there would be a way to go into the future after him if need be.

"Don't worry I'm sure he's fine," the man assured Alyssa. "He's quite powerful, I'm sure he could handle an attack from nearly any monster."

"If he's okay I can't believe that he missed our date," Alyssa said, sadly. "It was our first one and he promised to make it back in time… He's never broken a promise before."

The man smiled sympathetically. He walked over to Alyssa and placed a hand on her shoulder. Finally understanding why she was dressed in the fancy yellow dress. Honestly he had had no idea that they were even together, Hope hadn't seemed inclined towards her like that at all. And he knew Hope pretty well.

"Well, I am sorry about that. Honestly I had no idea that the two of you were 'together'," the man said, speaking his thoughts.

"Well we're not really, exactly anyway. I finally twisted his leg into going on a date with me. But he didn't seem that excited about it," Alyssa said. "But still he promised. Do you think something _could_ have happened to him?"

The scientist frowned. "Well… The other person that had gone through the portal said that the land was flooded with monsters. But as I said, I'm quite sure that Hope could have handled them."

"Maybe something _did_ happen to him," Alyssa said quietly, she looked up at the scientist. "Do you think that there's another device out there somewhere?"

"Honestly? No." The Scientist fiddled with a painting on the wall. "…But I think perhaps I could duplicate it. It would take time of course. But I think I could."

Alyssa's eyes widened. "Really?"

The man nodded. "Yes, just don't get your hopes up too high."

"Okay, thanks so much Professor!" Alyssa said, happily. Hope had better have a good reason for missing it, or else he was going to be in trouble. "How long do you think it will take you?"

The man hesitated. "Several months, I think."

Alyssa sighed, that was a long time. But it was certainly better then nothing. She thanked the scientist before leaving his house. She paused just outside, and looked up at the sky, where was Hope right now? How far in the future?

_Was_ he trapped somewhere? Something told her that Hope was all right, hopefully she would see him before a few months but if not definitely whenever the Professor got done with the second device.

…

Vanille was bent down in her own personal garden, surrounded by flowers of all sizes and shapes, as well as several different kinds of vegetables. The ones that caught Hope's eye in particular were the roses, tulips, and primroses as well as some carrots and tomatoes. Hope had always found it so strange that tomatoes were actually a fruit, he always held them in the same class as carrots and such. As far as he knew everyone always used them in vegetable soup.

Hope bent down beside her and watched her tend to them. She worked intently, making sure they all were taken care of. He'd forgotten how much Vanille liked nature. Hope twisted his glove around absentmindedly, lost in thought. If he were able to get back to his own time, would he ever see Vanille or Fang again?

"Are you okay Hope?" Vanille asked suddenly, sitting back on her heals and watching Hope concernedly.

Hope snapped himself out of his daze and met her eye. He grinned. "Yeah, of course I am."

"Alright," Vanille said, looking like she didn't really believe him. She bent back over her plants.

The two of them went inside after the sun went down, since there was nothing else to do outside. Alexei accompanied them inside, speaking Hope's ear off. Hope liked the young boy; even though the boy's incessant chatter wore him out. Though Alexei was pretty happy with Hope only umm-hmming every once in awhile. He seemed sure that he had Hope's utmost attention.

Everyone in Oerba went to bed early, much earlier then Hope was used to anyway. But he attempted to go to sleep anyway. The crickets were just as loud as usual, making it hard for Hope to fall asleep. Hope was one that liked complete silence while he slept; he wasn't a deep sleeper.

It was Saturday on Gran Pulse, as it would be in his regular time period. He found it interesting that it was the same month and day in the time period he was currently in as it was in his own time.

Hope sat up quickly in his bed, realizing that it was Saturday. Alyssa was going to be so mad at him. Though honestly, he hadn't intended for the dinner meeting to be a date to begin with. That had been added by Alyssa later on. And Hope hadn't been looking forward to it. But he had agreed to humor her; apparently she had never been on a date before and was just dying to go on one. Though Hope had regretted agreeing. Not that it mattered now, since Hope couldn't get back and had already missed it anyway. Hope lay back down on his bed and sighed, closing his eyes. He knew one thing for sure, if he ever _did_ get back Alyssa was going to kill him.


	5. Rescue Mission

Authors Note: I'm so sorry for the late chapter. I've been really busy, and I had a really hard time trying to get this chapter to sound how I wanted it to. I plan to get the next chapter up much sooner this time. And as always please read and review, thanks so much! :)

Chapter Four: Rescue Mission

"I'm not sure I understand," Vanille said, watching Hope as he searched for a big enough stick to use as a bat. They had walked deep in the woods in hopes of finding just the right kind of stick. Right before they had gone Hope had handed a small ball to Vanille, not telling her what it would be needed for. So Vanille was currently dumbfounded.

Finally, Hope picked up a fallen branch and swung it, he then turned back to Vanille and grinned. "It's sort of hard to explain but I think you'll like it." He tossed the stick into the air and caught it. "This should work."

With that Hope turned around and started back towards the village, Vanille followed, clutching the ball in her hands. She hurried forward until she had caught up with Hope, she then continued walking alongside him through the trees. It was a nice day on Gran Pulse, not too hot and not too cold, with a slight breeze playfully ruffling their hair.

As they walked Hope told her that they were going to play a game called baseball, something that Vanille had never played nor heard of. She was excited to learn how to play it however. The day before Vanille had taught Hope how to ride a horse, apparently he'd never learned how to, though he'd always wanted to. There were many horses in Oerba, and the people who owned them were always more then happy to let people ride them. Surprising Vanille, Hope had caught on rather quickly.

It only took them a few minutes to get back to Oerba, and once they had, Hope led Vanille through the town and to an empty field. He then turned to face Vanille and grinned once more.

"Okay, this is how you play," Hope told her. He went on to explain how the game of baseball worked.

…

Vanille followed along behind Hope as the two of them walked towards home, it had been a long day. Starting with Vanille giving Hope horseback riding lessons and ending with them helping some people in town attend to their garden. Helping out other people always made Vanille happy. Now the sun was setting, casting deep rays of red and gold throughout the sky.

People in Oerba, generally speaking, would go to bed not long after the sun set and then get up as it was rising, something that had taken Hope awhile to get used to. But after living in Oerba for over two months he had definitely had plenty of time to get used to it. In fact, he was now pretty much used to everything about Oerba. He could almost call it home, and was really enjoying living there, even though it wasn't his own time and things were completely different.

Vanille looked over at Hope, who wore a rather serious expression, as though he were thinking about something quite serious. Vanille quickened her pace until she was walking along beside him.

"Is something wrong?" Vanille asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Hope tore his gaze from the ground and grinned at her. "Nah, what would make you think that?"

"Well," Vanille began, putting her hands together. "I guess you just looked worried about something."

The two continued on in silence, Hope not saying what was on his mind. And they finally reached the house. Everyone who was currently staying there was already back in for the night. The house was quite crowded at that moment, with twelve people living in it. Luckily though, everyone living there got along rather well. Alexei ran over to them when they entered, a huge grin on his face. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder as if he were going somewhere. Over the last couple of months Alexei had become Hope's little shadow, Hope was quite fond of him.

"By guys! I'm going over to my friends house, I'll see you tomorrow!" Alexei told them quickly, as he ran out of the house.

Vanille smiled waving at the boy's retreating figure. "Bye Alexei! Be good now!"

"Supper's ready," Fang called from across the room. "You two hungry?"

…

Vanille woke up with a start. Blinking in the darkness, she frowned. Just a moment earlier she could've sworn she'd heard something. It had sounded like a scream. Sitting up slowly she surveyed the room; everyone else was still sound asleep, everything seemed to just as it should. Vanille frowned, bringing her hands together worriedly.

"Maybe, I imagined it?" Vanille muttered, her eyebrows still furrowed together worriedly. However, just as she was lying back down she heard it again. She was positive now, someone _had_ screamed.

Vanille got to her feet and walked over to Hope, she shook him softly, her green eyes wide with fear. It didn't take long for Hope to wake up; he blinked confusedly when he saw Vanille.

"Hey Vanille, what is it?" he asked groggily, bringing himself into a sitting position.

"I heard someone scream," Vanille said anxiously. Glancing towards the front door. "Who do you suppose it was? I wonder if someone's hurt."

Hope frowned. "Are you sure it wasn't a dream Vanille?"

Vanille nodded anxiously. She was positive; she'd heard it again after she had woken up. True she had a rather good imagination but not _that _good. Vanille paced over to the window, and peered out of it. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary outside. Hope got out of bed and walked over to the window as well, he swung it open and frowned, his eyes scanning the area. His scowl deepened as he caught sight of smoke coming from a house a couple of streets away. That much smoke was never a good thing.

Hope ducked out of the window and ran outside, putting his shoes on as he went. Vanille ran after him as she heard yet another scream coming from somewhere nearby, this one much louder.

Hope took one look around before quickly sprinting towards the house. Vanille gasped; the house the smoke had been coming from was almost completely engulfed in flames. Several people stood outside of it, some were desperately trying to put the fire out with buckets of water to no avail.

Coughing slightly, Vanille ran after Hope who was speaking with the people outside of the house anxiously. One of the children outside was notably Alexei; the boy stared at the burning house with frightened eyes.

"Vanille!" Fang hollered, running towards her, eyes locked on the burning house. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Vanille said, slowing to a stop as she reached Hope. She glanced at the house before them and gasped, seeing something right behind the house that she hadn't noticed before. It was a monster, one that she'd never seen before. And she'd seen a lot of monsters. Eyes wide, Vanille tugged on Hope shirt.

Hope glanced down at her. "What is it Vanille?" He had his palms out and seemed about to use some magic.

The red head pointed in the direction of the monster. "Do you think it put the house on fire? I've never seen it before."

Hope frowned, reaching towards his belt where he usually kept his boomerang. He frowned when he didn't find it, before remembering that he'd left it back at the house, he'd been in too much of a hurry. That was going to make fighting the monster very difficult, but at least he still had his magic. Hope had seen one of that type of monster before, but he couldn't place his finger on what it was called, it had been years since he'd seen one. Sazh would probably remember, he had greatly despised that type of monster, claiming that they were too much work to fight. Hope tended to agree with him.

Fang caught up with them, she too, frowned when she saw the monster. She then turned to the group of people gathered in front of the house.

"Anyone who can fight by all means help, but those of you who can't stay clear," Fang said. She spun her spear around in her hand and ran in the direction of the monster, several people trailing after her.

Hope focused momentarily and shot water at it, it seemed to have no effect on the fire however. Hope frowned, as he tried again with a more advanced water spell. But it still didn't appear as though it did anything to put out the fire.

A man who had remained standing outside the house watched Hope's efforts worriedly and when they didn't appear to have helped at all began running towards the house.

"Hey! If you go in there you'll get burnt!" Hope yelled, running after the man.

The man halted mid-step. "My daughter's in there!"

Hope hesitated, glancing at the house. "I'll go get her. Is she the only person in there?"

The man nodded, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Yes. Thank you Hope."

Hope nodded, smiling briefly at the man before running inside the burning house. Vanille gasped, looking up the burning house, she then ran towards it as well. Pushing open the front door, she stepped inside, coughing at the heavy smoke. She looked around anxiously trying to find Hope. He was nowhere in sight. Still coughing, Vanille continued through the house looking around for Hope or the girl. She'd met the person's daughter before; she was only five years old and extremely sweet.

"Hope, where are you?" Vanille called, her voice was lost in the crackling of the fire. Vanille ran towards the back of the house, she halted at a staircase, debating going up it. It looked like there was more flames upstairs, making her hesitate about whether or not to go up. She got the feeling that Hope had taken the stairs however, and Vanille knew that all of the beds were up there, so if the girl truly was still inside the house, at this hour it made sense that she would be up there. And Vanille figured that Hope had most likely used the same reasoning. Vanille braced herself before running up the stairs, shielding her face with her arm. The flames inside the house were becoming more and more severe, Vanille had to struggle to draw each breath.

Vanille surveyed the living room upstairs before continuing on, spotting nothing but flames. At this rate Vanille wasn't sure if they would make it out of the house before it burned down, things were already falling down around her, anything from paintings to large bits of the roof. Vanille became increasingly nervous, and she continued on at a much faster pace.

Just as Vanille rounded a corner she heard Hope speaking softly, she ran in the direction of his voice and nearly right into Hope. He held a sobbing young girl in his arms, the same one they had been looking for.

"Vanille? What are you doing here?" Hope asked, his voice coming out slightly hoarse. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!" He grabbed Vanille's arm and began running towards the stairs, still holding onto the little girl.

Vanille and Hope ran towards back towards the stairs as fast as they could. The house was really falling apart now, large chunks of the roof fell down around them, and one of the walls fell down right after they passed by, almost on Vanille, causing her to shriek loudly.

Upon reaching the stairs they ran down them as fast as they could, Hope still keeping a hold of Vanille's arm. Once down them they took off for the front door, and reached it just as a beam inside the house fell down in front of it, making it difficult to reach the door. Hope stood on top of it and kicked the door open instead of trying to touch the doorknob; which would most definitely be burning hot.

Hope grabbed the girl and jumped over the beam and out the door. Vanille started to follow but another beam fell down on top of her, hitting the lower half of her body. Vanille gasped, feeling a sharp pain just before her vision went black as she lost consciousness.

…

"NO! Vanille!" Hope screamed, dropping the five year old girl before racing back to the burning house, which was rapidly crumbling. Upon reaching the door he began tossing the planks of wood off of the area he knew Vanille was desperately. He finally located her amidst the mess and tried to push the beam off of her. After over a minute of trying he finally managed to roll it off of her. Hope scrambled to his feet and lifted Vanille, he quickly carried her away from the burning wreckage. Once he felt like they were a safe enough distance away he knelt down, Vanille still in his arms.

Hope was vaguely aware of people moving and speaking around them but he couldn't make sense of what was being said. Slightly stunned, Hope checked Vanille's pulse, which he didn't feel. Hope felt as though the world was spinning around him, yet at the same time felt like he was moving in slow motion.

Hope's eyes grew wide as he turned his gaze to Vanille's face, shock written all over his. Tears filled his eyes and spilled down his cheeks causing his vision to grow blurry.

"…Vanille," Hope muttered, as his tears began flowing faster. "No…you can't…. I….I…"

"…Hope?"


End file.
